It has become a common practice to utilize dental floss as a part of dental hygiene practice in addition to utilizing the customary tooth brush and dentifrice. This has become a desirable procedure for daily personal dental hygienic care to better assure removal of food particles from the teeth and, in particular, from the interstices between adjacent teeth. As is well known, utilization of only a customary tooth brush fails to effect the desired thorough cleaning of the interstices between adjacent teeth.
A common technique for utilization of dental floss is to take a length of floss from a floss dispensing container, wrap a portion of each opposite marginal end portion around an index finger of each respective hand and hold the end of the floss tightly against a finger by means of the associated thumb. With the fingers then separated to hold the interposed portion of the floss taut, the fngers and associated thumb are manipulated to displace the taut portion of the floss in a reciprocating manner through the interstitial space between any pair of adjacent teeth. The objective of this movement of the floss is to dislodge food particles caught or wedged between the teeth and thereby displace them to a position where they may be removed when rinsing the mouth. This technique is awkward due to the bulk of the finger and thumb that must be inserted in the mouth. It is a particularly awkward technique with respect to the teeth located at back of the mouth. Also, it is difficult to grip the floss around the ends of the fingers.
Attempts have been made to devise apparatus which will facilitate the flossing operation. Prior apparatus includes a number of different mechanical devices designed to hold a length of floss tautly between a pair of spaced apart supporting elements carried by a handle structure enabling manual manipulation to effect flossing of a persons teeth. Many of these prior art devices comprise mechanically complex structures incorporating numerous components requiring the user to have a significant amount of manual dexterity. A further major disadvantage of many of these prior art devices is that they are relatively costly. Many of these prior art devices are designed to incrementally advance the floss by manually operated or electric motor driven mechanisms to position an unused,clean section of floss in an operative position at periodic intervals. These mechanically or electrically operated devices are prone to break thereby requiring difficult and costly repair. Additionally, these mechanically or electrically operated devices add bulk and weight to such flossing devices rendering them more difficult to hold and manipulate.
Three examples of prior art devices shown in previously issued U.S. patents are hereinafter specifically identified and their structures briefly described to provide a background relationship to the present invention. These prior art devices differ in major respects from the physical structure of the flossing tool of this invention as well as in their respective modes of operation. Only one aspect of the physical structure of these three prior art devices is noted as having any degree of similitude to that of the flossing tool which is the subject of this disclosure and the appended claims. This aspect is that each of the tools includes a pair of elongated handle elements for support of a length of dental floss in a position where it can be effective in performance of a flossing operation. This single aspect of physical similitude is not anticipatory of the present inventive tool nor would it have made this tool or its mode of operation obvious to one having ordinary skill in this art. The three prior art patents noted herein and briefly discussed to clearly demonstrate their distinguishing structural features with respect to the present invention are listed as follows:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,874 issued Nov. 28, 1995 to Stuart L. Meyer, et al.; PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,965 issued Apr. 18, 1995 to Steven K. Levine; and PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,177 issued Mar. 26, 1974 to Kenneth R. Bragg.
Considering first the Meyer '874 patent, it will be readily noted that its physical structure comprises a pair of elongated rods that support a length of dental floss in the form of one or more loops.
These rods function as handles that are held by the user to manipulate the apparatus in performing flossing operations. A majority of the embodiments illustrated in this patent are formed with a plurality of small apertures in each of the handles in longitudinally spaced relationship but aligned transversely as between the pair of handles. The dental floss is threaded through opposed sets of apertures thereby forming loops that interconnect the handles at longitudinally spaced intervals. Threading of the floss through the apertures is not only a time consuming task but challenges a persons manual dexterity since the apertures are of a relatively small size. Furthermore, the threading operation is made even more difficult since the terminal end of the floss is in a frayed condition and it is well known that it is difficult to push a string having a frayed end through a small hole.
Two other embodiments of the apparatus shown in the Meyer patent do not have apertures through which the floss must be threaded as it is looped over the terminal ends of the handles. This requires the handles to be carefully held to avoid having the floss become disengaged.
A further disadvantage of the Meyer apparatus is the difficulty their structure presents to effect cleaning of the apparatus. They are designed to have the floss displaced at intermittent times during the course of a flossing operation thereby periodically presenting an unused length of floss at their operative terminal ends. Intermittent displacement of the floss is desirable as it advances a clean portion into a position where it effects the flossing operation. Concurrently, a portion of floss previously used and probably carrying debris, such as bits of food particles removed from the prior pair of teeth that had been flossed. This debris often becomes lodged in the apertures through which it passes, or is collected at edges of the handle structures about which the floss is trained, or is deposited on surfaces traversed by the floss. Regardless of the reason for debris becoming lodged on the handle components or structure, it is important that it be removed upon completion of a flossing operation to place the apparatus in a hygienically clean condition until again used in a tooth flossing operation.
Disclosed in Bragg's U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,177 are two embodiments of a flossing apparatus having a common structural feature of a pair of elongated elements that are supported with their respective terminal ends held in spaced apart relationship. A length of is supported between the opposed terminal ends and is used to effect a flossing function. It is threaded through tubular guides integrally formed with the elongated elements at their terminal ends. Again, as in the case of the Meyer et al. patent, their are the problems of threading the frayed end of the floss through a small aperture and effecting hygienic cleaning of the floss supporting elements at the conclusion of a flossing operation. Another significant problem with Bragg's apparatus is the difficulty encountered in manipulating the floss clamping mechanism provided to secure the floss to the elongated elements. It is manually operable to release the floss for incremental advancement of the floss to place a clean portion in operative flossing position.
The Levine U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,965, discloses an awkward flossing apparatus that has a single elongated rod-like, handle element for support of a length of floss in cooperation with the users finger and thumb. While the thumb and finger are inserted into the mouth, the handle element is held by the user's other hand in positioning the one terminal end adjacent the outwardly facing surfaces of the teeth. A length of floss is positioned in longitudinally extending, overlying relationship to the exterior surface of the handle element to which it is clamped by the fingers of the user's hand that is gripping the handle element. The floss extends to the terminal and is threaded through an aperture to be gripped by the user's thumb and finger whereby a short length of the floss is tautly held in a position where it can be effective in performing a flossing operation. Not only is the user faced with the difficult task of threading the floss through a small aperture in the handle element but is also faced with the difficult task of manipulating the cumbersome and bulky thumb and finger within the interior of the mouth.